Senate E-Filing: This Time, Make It Happen

Tomorrow, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration will meet to discuss S. 375, a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) that would require Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission. The Center for Responsive Politics believes this bill removes an inexcusable exemption and is long overdue.

In every Congress for more than a decade, senators have proposed filing their reports using the same process used by every member of and candidate for the House of Representatives, as well as presidents and White House hopefuls: digitally and directly to the FEC. But the measures have failed every time, which means most senators keep doing things the old way: They fill out their campaign finance disclosure forms on a computer, print them out, and have them delivered to the Secretary of the Senate, who in turn sends them to the FEC. Then the FEC actually pays to have those paper documents keyed by hand again.

It’s hard to imagine a more wasteful and time-consuming way to get the task accomplished. Furthermore, it has been estimated that this process squanders nearly half-a-millon dollars each year, according to the president’s 2013 budget proposal. In an era of furloughs and cutbacks, how can this unnecessary expense be justified?

The FEC began accepting electronically filed reports in the mid-1990’s, and by 2001 House candidates were all filing their reports online. Yet senators exempted themselves from this requirement and continue to this day to cling to their antiquated system, failing to meet the public’s basic expectation of transparency and needlessly delaying voters’ access to vital information about candidates’ fundraising.

The Center encourages the Rules Committee to seriously consider the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. Sixteen senators have already begun filing their campaign information electronically, and thirty-four senators have cosponsored the bill. Thousands of federal candidates already file electronically every quarter, and thirty-one states currently require electronic filing for all their candidates. It’s long past time for the Senate to make this happen.

Miriam joined the Center in June 2013. She is responsible for developing the Center's legislative and policy information on transparency as well as maintaining its database tracking the personal finances of members of Congress. Prior to joining the Center, Miriam worked for former Sen. Jeff Bingaman and interned at the Congressional Research Service. She has a B.A. in international business and a M.A. in political communication from American University.

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